1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of photography, and more specifically to a recycleable film pack single-use camera having a built-in electronic flash unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In today's society, more and more emphasis is being placed upon ecology and the preservation of the environment. A number of consumer products are produced that are classified as disposable; that is, the product is used once and then disposed of. An example of such a disposable consumer product is a single-use camera having a built-in electronic flash unit.
Generally, one known form of a single-use 35 mm camera having a built-in electronic flash unit is a point-and-shoot type camera and comprises (1) a plastic inner camera part including a taking lens, a film metering mechanism, and a shutter; (2) an electronic flash unit comprising a printed circuit board assembly provided with a flash reflector and (3) a cardboard outer sealed pack which contains the inner camera part and the electronic flash unit. The cardboard outer sealed pack further has respective openings for the taking lens, a shutter button, a frame counter window, a film advance thumbwheel, a simple see-through viewfinder of the inner camera part, the flash reflector, a flash ready indicator and a flash on/off switch. At the manufacturer, the inner camera part is typically loaded with a conventional 24-exposure 35 mm film cartridge and substantially the entire length of the unexposed filmstrip is factory pre-wound from the cartridge into a supply chamber of the inner camera part. After the customer takes a picture, the thumbwheel is manually rotated to rewind the exposed frame into the cartridge. The rewinding movement of the filmstrip, the equivalent of one frame, rotates a metering sprocket to decrement a frame counter to its next lower numbered setting When a flash picture is desired, the customer turns on the flash on/off switch, waits for flash ready indication, and then takes the flash picture. When substantially the entire length of the filmstrip is exposed and rewound into the cartridge, the single-use camera is sent to a photofinisher who first removes the inner camera part from the cardboard sealed pack and then removes the cartridge containing the filmstrip from the camera part. The cartridge containing the filmstrip is processed, and the inner camera part, the electronic flash unit, and the opened pack are disposed of.
One disadvantage of this arrangement is that the selling price of the camera assembly is significantly increased because of the electronic flash unit.
Another disadvantage is that the disposal of the electronic flash unit is a waste of resources and takes away from the preservation of the environment.